Pitt coach Jeff Capel was properly complimentary of freshman guards Jaland Lowe and Bub Carrington during his regular Monday chat with reporters on the ACC conference call.

But in the wake of Pitt’s sixth conference loss in nine games Saturday at Miami, Capel’s overall point is more important and goes beyond what individual players can offer.

“We made a heckuva comeback,” he said of Pitt’s rally from a 19-point deficit before losing 72-68 to the Hurricanes. “(Lowe) was a big reason why we were able to get back into the game. But we were the reason as a group collectively, myself included, why we didn’t win the game. We can’t dig holes like that.”

Until Pitt started making shots, poor shooting, inadequate rebounding and defense that was too generous helped the Hurricanes build their big lead.

Yet there is time to salvage the season, with Pitt less than halfway through its 20-game conference schedule. The 10th is Wednesday against Wake Forest at Petersen Events Center.

While the NCAA Tournament might be a far-fetched dream at this point, the season is far from lost.

Capel is trying to manage the team with a short bench now that Jorge Diaz Graham (ankle) is unavailable. Other than Guillermo Diaz Graham’s nine minutes and William Jeffress’ one, Pitt used only six players against Miami.

Going forward, you can expect more playing time for Guillermo Diaz Graham, who is averaging 19.1 minutes and 7.6 points. His reduced playing time was a result of Capel’s desire to use Federiko Federiko on Miami’s 6-foot-7, 248-pound Norchad Omier.

Meanwhile, Lowe and Carrington are learning hard lessons on what it takes to win in the ACC.

There can be no greater indicator of Lowe’s progress than the coach gifting him with his trust in the game’s decisive moment. “We wanted to put the ball in his hands,” Capel said of Lowe initiating action Saturday on the last play of the game.

“There were several options on the play. We had him on a big guy (Omier), and we liked that. Jaland has shown in the past few games his ability to make shots, to get fouled, obviously, to make free throws, but to make plays.

“Looking back at it, I thought there was a lot of contact on the play. So, we did a pretty good job of that, drawing the contact.”

The problem, however, was this wasn’t one of those summertime games on concrete where players call their own fouls. Omier appeared to slap Lowe on his head, but no foul was called.

“But I thought he also had the opportunity to drive,” Capel said. “We’ll discuss it with him. Obviously, he was heartbroken after the game as were we.”

Carrington’s education is of a different sort. Lining up at the second guard most of the time with Lowe at the point, Carrington has scored in single digits in three of the past four games, including a scoreless performance against Syracuse on Jan. 16.

But his overall game hasn’t suffered. Carrington is averaging 5.2 rebounds over the past seven, and he hasn’t committed more than two turnovers since Dec. 30 at Syracuse. He shot 2 of 11 against Miami and collected eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, with no turnovers.

“He’s learning, which is sometimes a difficult thing for young players, that he can have an effect on the game, beside just scoring,” Capel said. “Obviously, we need him to score, and we want him to score.”

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